FORMULA versus FAITH

There are no FORMULAS in Scripture by which we can RECEIVE from God…especially in the prayer and giving realm.

A friend I have known for MANY years has been on a Christian network today speaking on some FORMULAS of Scripture. I am sorry…but this is NOT Biblical at all.

God works in ways that we cannot understand. God did not work in only ONE way: God worked, and does work, in a MYRIAD of ways. We cannot establish FORMULAS which will force God to work on our behalf in a certain way! That is false teaching and false doctrine!

To reduce the Word of God to a book of FORMULAS is to distort and misrepresent the truth of God’s Word! If the Bible was written to teach us FORMULAS…then our faith would not be directed to God: our faith would be in the FORMULAS!

Please…take a moment and think soberly…with wisdom: If all we have to do is follow a FORMULA…then we have no need…and then CEASE…to follow JESUS!

We are not called to follow FORMULAS…we are called to follow JESUS! And…we follow Jesus by FAITH! If FORMULAS were truly presented in Scripture…then these FORMULAS would have to work every time. Just as in Chemistry…when you follow a FORMULA you always get a certain and consistent result: when you mix 2 parts Hydrogen with 1 part oxygen, then you will ALWAYS get WATER. That is a FORMULA. When you follow a RECIPE when you cook…you get what the FORMULA creates. I cannot follow a FORMULA/RECIPE for STEW and the resulting dinner turn out to be SPAGHETTI.

Can we pray and give and God actually answer our prayer as we wish? Sure. That can happen. But we can also pray and God can answer in ways that we did not wish.

The point is this: we are not to put our trust and faith in following “spiritual formulas.” If we do…our faith has been transferred to FORMULAS…and our faith is no longer in Jesus! We live by faith…not by formulas. And that faith has to TRUST God whether we understand the way He is working or not!

A FORMULA based spirituality will put its dependence on FOLLOWING SPECIFIC STEPS TO GAIN A DESIRED RESULT. A FAITH based spirituality puts its dependence on the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.

Every situation is different. Every person’s experience will not be identical to another person’s experience as they walk with God. Some will experience the loss of a loved one due to cancer…and another may see their love one healed of cancer. From that, it is erroneous to deduce that one followed the proper formula, while the other person failed to follow the correct formula! We are not God. We are not sovereign. We do not know, nor understand, the ways of God in all things. That is why we put our faith in God…not in formulas.

Few realize the dangers of presenting FORMULAS as truth…falsely teaching that Christians can simply follow certain, specific steps to RECEIVE things from God. When this is done, the person falsely presenting these formulas is actually saying that we can BIND GOD by using certain “facts” and “truths”.

Listen to me closely: we CANNOT bind God to any FORMULA! Can we bind the hands of God in our lives? Yes…that is why we have what we call “FREE WILL”. In other words, we can prevent God from working in us the work of SALVATION. But…keep this in mind and I want to make this clear: God can do ANYTHING that He wants to do at ANY TIME He wants to do it! The ONLY place we have control is over our acceptance or rejection of Jesus! Other than that…God can strike us dead at any moment…or He can bring to life someone who has died at any moment!

God…ALONE…is GOD! And to limit Him to FORMULAS is to reduce God to a point where it is actually the FORMULAS that become God! As many are teaching these type things…they are placing FORMULAS on the THRONE OF GOD, as God is simply now the SERVANT of the FORMULAS!

I do not care WHO it is proclaiming FORMULAS…they are NOT of God!

Christians…everyone…ignore and steer clear of ministers who promote FORMULAS TO BLESSINGS…and every other thing which they claim can be gained by following FORMULAS. Sadly, go to a Christian bookstore and see the glut of writings by famous ministers promoting FORMULAS to everything imaginable: success, blessing, favor, riches, etc.

It is time the Church wakes to the TRUTH of Jesus and His precious Word. It is time FABLES and FORMULAS are called out for what they are: false teaching and false doctrine. And, sadly, those who propagate such false theology are called FALSE PROPHETS or FALSE TEACHERS.

It is more important to have the approval of God than the approval of ANY man. Thus…I defend the TRUTH and the FAITH which was “once delivered” by Jesus to the world. And, in so doing, I will ALWAYS defend that faith against false teaching and false doctrine.

I do not know how God will work in your life. But I do know that He WILL work in your life. But He will not do it based on the thought that you followed some FORMULA to get Him to respond in a certain way that meets your desires. God will do WHAT IS BEST for you…and He will do it in a way that requires FAITH.

So…trust the Lord. Do NOT put your faith and trust in a FORMULA. Whatever you face…whatever you need…take it before the Lord in prayer: with no predetermined formula. Just be honest with God. Tell Him your desires….your needs….your concerns. Then…have the FAITH that allows God to work as HE wills to do. In so doing, you will experience the joy of putting your trust and faith in God. Peter, Paul, John, Stephen and the rest of the Disciples and Apostles during Biblical times did just that. And…remember…they ended up having to die for their walk of faith. Did God fail them? NO! NOT AT ALL! God was with them ALL THE WAY. And…their faithfulness won so many people to Christ! And…it won for them the RACE…and the glory that awaited them was FAR GREATER than any results that an earthly formula could ever bring to them.

One day…our FAITH shall become SIGHT! So…do not grow weary in well doing! Trust God and walk with him IN FAITH…not by FORMULA.

In Christ,

Ron